Underlying Conditions
by vvheel
Summary: It's complicated, but none have them have ever lived life simply. Dean/Emma/Corey. Polyamorous.


**Disclaimer: Everything I'm being creative with here belongs to the WWE.**

_Keep in mind this story is not a love triangle, but a Corey/Emma and Dean/Emma story._

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><p>The headset was giving him a headache. Well everything gave him a fucking headache these days. He wasn't trying to be a whiny asshole, really, but the thumping of Bull Dempsey's music was causing him physical pain, even from way back here. He was standing between a bored cameraman and a pile of boxes containing random light sets and fuck knows what else. The cameraman was tapping his foot in impatience.<p>

Corey muttered along with the theme as the hulking man walked out, staring Mojo Rawley down. "Shit. Shit. Shit." The cameraman gave him a confused look. It was obvious who he was – I mean _come on_ – but after not being in the ring for so long, he lost his celebrity status and the heavyset man was more annoyed with him than anything.

"Hmm?"

Corey didn't take his eyes off the monitor. "Bull. Bull. Bull shit."

"Oh." The guy gave him a kind of fake laugh, not that he asked for it.

Corey rolled his eyes, taking off down the hallway to meet up with his boss. He was promptly waved off, only because the older man was surrounded by bumbling backstage hands who were constantly updating him on the camera statuses.

There was nothing to do here and the headache mixed with the ever occurring jealously in his veins when he saw others on that mat really was pushing him out the door. He made his way for it, noting he would return before tapings ended to help take the set apart, but he was stopped by Devin Taylor, who'd just come out of the locker room.

"Hey, whatsup?"

He turned to her, shrugging. "I'm getting out of here."

She laughed, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "You're not bailing on me now, are you?"

It probably wasn't a good idea to stick around. If he kept agitating his migraine, his doctor would be pissed. But Devin was dressed in a daring yellow dress and her eyes were sparking mischievously. He smirked, walking her way and shoving his hands in his pockets. "Hmm, nah."

"Good." She grinned, swaying her hips ever so slightly as she walked, but oh_ he noticed_. This went on for a little while longer as they walked. He let her lead them back towards the stage. He was about to ask her what she was doing later when she cut him off. "I've got to go do some backstage interviews of Mojo and Bull." She made a grossed-out face. "Stick around. I'll catch you later?"

He nodded. "Sure thing." And he watched her walked back towards the little corner area where they felt it was most appropriate to film interviews. Corey went back to his original position in one of the wide hallways where the monitors were placed. The cameraman from earlier was nowhere to be seen.

Jojo's voice echoed off the screen. "The following contest is scheduled for one fall. Introducing first, from Boston Massachusetts, she is the Boss of NXT, Sasha Banks." The young woman strolled down the ramp, wearing her signature golden glasses and blinged-up jacket. She gave a death glare to the group of men booing her. The next cue of music caught Corey off-guard. The titantron turned pink as soon as the obnoxious little tune hit. And out came Emma. "Her opponent, from Melbourne, Australia, Emma!" The lack of last name made Jojo's announcement a little off, but the girl did a good job regardless. He could admit he had immediately shot her down as an announcer during her first try. But that didn't matter now. When did Emma come in to town?

The orange-clad Diva pulled herself up awkwardly through the ropes and Corey watched with such interest that the environment around him was shut off completely. Hopefully his boss wouldn't choose this moment to try and talk to him. The match had lasted longer than usual for the Divas and both were sweating by the time Sasha had knocked Emma down and pinned her. The crowd, save for a few die-hard fans, booed the golden-clad brunette as she smirked, strolling off. Emma was still shakily climbing the ramp when Jojo came out to announce the last match of the day's taping.

He wasn't going to make a scene by approaching her here, that's why he stayed in place and made sure he hung around until it was time to pack up. From what he picked up from the rest of the crew, there would be a group of superstars from the main roster coming down to feud with one of the big names at NXT at tomorrow's taping. Recently, they had switched from one four hour taping a month to two two hour tapings, The result showed better ticket sales and more amped up crowds.

He casually headed to the back, mapping his way so that he would pass the women's locker room. He chose simply to pass by, mostly because Charlotte was hanging around the door while talking on her cell phone.

"Hey there again." Came a voice from behind him, but it was a more clever voice than the soft Australian lilt he had been searching for. Devin stood behind him, not paying any mind to Charlotte, her bag slung over her shoulder. She had her hands clasped behind her back and grinned at him like she was expecting something from him. He knew what she wanted him to say, but he really had to make a change of plans.

"This headache's really killing me. Should probably head home so I'm in shape for setting up tomorrow." He shrugged, trying not to notice her disappointed frown.

"Alright. I guess I'll see you later."

He gave her a quick wave before immediately heading towards his car in the parking lot. This time of year, Florida could get astoundingly cold at night. He was glad for the leather jacket he wore over his backstage crew uniform. When he got to his car, he sat in the driver's seat and pulled out his cell phone, immediately calling her. After a few tries, she didn't pick up and he was left to frowning at the bright screen until he received a text. _Where'd you park your car?_

He replied quickly, giving her directions. He got out of the car, keeping a lookout for her. Even though she could handle herself well, he didn't like the idea of her scouring a dark Floridian parking lot by herself. He found out quickly that everything in this state is fucking insane.

She approached to his left, looking in better shape than she was in the ring. She was dressed in workout clothing that fit tightly against her tanned skin. She grinned at him. "I've had a very long day. They called me last minute to fight Sasha. I'm assuming someone got sick or hurt. How've you been?"

It had been probably a couple of weeks since they'd last seen each other, but she was with the main roster now and he had NXT backstage stuff and recovering that kept him busy. He shrugged. "Been better. Want to get out of here?" Those words had multiple connotations that both of them were aware of and perfectly comfortable with.

She nodded. "I took a cab here. Lead the way." They both entered his car and he quickly made sure the volume of his music was down low. Emma really liked Eminem and dubstep, but the energy of his music would always overwhelm her a bit. It made Paige's stuff sound like nursery rhymes. She relaxed in the seat, eying him every minute or so with an eyebrow raised until he finally asked her what was up. "You're not smoking."

He rubbed the back of his head, eyes on the road. "Yeah, I'm trying to quit. It's been about two weeks so I think I'm on track. Doc said it's not good for the recovery process."

She nodded. "He's right. That's awesome. But really, how have you been?"

He smirked. She was always asking him how he was and not taking his bullshit answers. It was always nice to have a friend that really cared about his health. And she really was his friend, even if they were in this weird twilight zone that neither of them really wanted to bring up. "I promise, I've been alright. I've just had headaches all day. I'm to the point where I can wrestle again. They're trying to go slow with things because one more concussion and I'm out."

He pulled into the parking spot in front of his apartment and she followed him up the stairs. Once they were inside, she immediately sat on his couch, groaning. "Sasha really let it out on me today. I imagine she was pissed that I wasn't whoever I replaced. She gets very personal in feuds."

"Yeah." He set his keys on the kitchen table and lazily flopped down next to her. "This is very true. What hurts?"

She pouted. "Everything." She ran her fingers through her hair, combing out the tangled curls. "Didn't mean to just drop in on you. It was a rush but I could have taken a minute to text you or something."

He laughed. "You don't owe me anything. Don't let any of those uppity fuckers in NXT think you need to warn them of your arrival because you're a main roster chick now."

She gave him a crooked smile. "Yeah I definitely don't feel like main roster."

He leaned back on the couch, wishing he had a cigarette right now. "It's a crime what they're doing to you. But, you know, they'll see. If they gave Mr. Two Concussions a chance then you definitely will get one."

She smiled, gently leaning her head against his arm. "You're so corny, but you make me feel better."

He tapped her on the head lightly. "Don't go expecting Dr. Phil from me, princess."

She snorted, looking up at him. "I would never."

"Good." he looked back down at her, giving it a moment before he decided to kiss her. She turned towards him, letting him wrap his arm around her waist as he pulled her closer. God he fucking missed this. Just hanging out with her. Nothing complicated. She'd been so afraid after the first night she'd kissed him that he would be offended that she wasn't looking for a relationship. He'd simply shrugged. Sometimes he wished that she would think less and just feel more often. One of these days she would probably make some crazy decision based on no logic and impress him. He liked to think that day wasn't too far off.

More than anything else, she was his friend. The pretty woman who made him laugh and smile and promptly brushed off when he was being a conceited asshole. Though he mostly saved that for that overbearing idiot Sami Zayn. If he'd said that out loud, he knew Emma would promptly punch him in the arm for saying such mean things.

Her breathing was deep by the time they broke apart. "Hey..." she whispered close into his lips, a brilliant smile blooming on her face. "you cleaned your apartment."

He smirked, leaning back. "Had a somewhat forced get-together a few days ago. Family came in to town."

She lightly wrapped her strong arms around his waist, still grinning like a Cheshire cat. "I'm impressed. But mostly exhausted. I wasn't prepared at all for the drive..." she trailed off, toying with the zipper on his leather jacket. "...and I'm not really interested in driving home tonight..."

He knew where she was going with this, and hell he was all up for it, but in the back of his mind he knew he would have to get up early to set up for production. One more misstep and his boss would surely fire him. He couldn't afford to be completely out of NXT, not when he was this close to wrestling again. "Hey..." he leaned up a little, giving an apologetic smile. A smile he only saved for her because no other fucker on the planet deserved anything from him. "I've got to get up real early tomorrow."

She was still grinning, like he'd told her something funny. At his raised eyebrow, she finally spoke. "Yeah, that's fine." She curled her feet up on the couch and cocked her head to one side. "But can I still stay?"

He laughed. "Sure thing, dollface." She wrinkled her nose at his pet name and it only made him laugh again. He ruffled her hair, getting up while she tried to fix it. He stretched, heading back to his bedroom. Taking off his leather jacket, he called back to her. "I'm going to take a shower..." and after a pause, "you're free to join me."

He would think back on this moment later. The way she shyly entered his bedroom as she tried to hide her grin and how she giggled until she couldn't breathe when he scrubbed her hair with that cologne-scented shampoo he used. How not every night with them ended in sex, though that never stopped them from fooling around a little. They were friends, very close friends, he wanted to call her his best friend. But there was something missing. He couldn't really put his finger on it, but he knew she felt it too. He could see the hesitancy in her eyes, yet he knew it wasn't either of their fault. There was a piece missing to the puzzle that was their complicated relationship. If you'd told him what it was at this point, though, he probably would have punched you in the face.

The crowd was especially loud this evening. Every crew member backstage was running to and fro trying to make sure everything was perfect. Corey knew that nothing could go perfectly, but if they'd just calm the fuck down for two seconds maybe things would go more smoothly. He was the only person backstage who wasn't swearing up a storm in stress and fear. In hindsight, he probably should have been more focused on his job, but the events of last night always had this effect on him. She'd arrived to the building with him early in the morning and had chosen to work out while he set up. Nobody saw, therefore nobody questioned them. The only change in Corey's mood was that he couldn't really look at Devin in the eyes. She'd raised her eyebrow at him, but luckily for him was too busy getting her makeup applied.

It's not like she was his girlfriend or anything. He hadn't kissed her or took her out to dinner or anything. Besides, he really wasn't the monoamorous type, anyway. He was just lucky that Emma was a great friend who seemed to either not care for or not be comfortable with conventional relationships. She hadn't really talked to him about it. He figured one look at her roller coaster (though very close and personal) friendship with Paige was all the answer he needed. Really her only normal relationship was with Bayley, who was as vanilla as you could get.

Lost in his thoughts, he hadn't noticed his boss come up to him. The older man didn't say anything, just stood with him among the chaos backstage while Baron Corbin stood in the ring. The Lone Wolf looked ready to tear someone's throat out. Mostly because the man opposite him had a slightly crazier look in his eyes. Corey crossed his arms. Dean Ambrose.

Now that guy was a piece of work. Corey didn't really understand why Dean bothered him so much. Not necessarily like the guy was no good or anything, just something was different and Corey couldn't place it. How the main roster handled this guy really showed the kind of standards they were held up to.

"I have something very important to tell you." His boss interrupted his thoughts. "The main roster doesn't feel that Corbin is ready yet. I'm thinking they're more interested in adding fuel to Hideo Itami and Sami Zayn. Want to get those two headed up quickly." He turned to Corey. "I recommended to Hunter that you be Dean Ambrose's tag team partner."

Corey blinked. "Wait, are you serious?"

He nodded. "I spoke to the doctor. He thinks with the proper training you can do this. Dean may not seem like the most conventional guy, but he has an outstanding work ethic and he can help you prepare to go again. Plus he compliments your style. Hunter wants you out there and I think I've found the solution."

He didn't really have a choice. If he did, it would have been a resounding hell no. His head felt heavy, but he was sure it was from nerves and something else. He frowned at the screen. Frowned at the raving man who was able to keep up with Baron Corbin's sheer size and strength with ease. This man could make him a wrestler again.

He nodded. "Okay."


End file.
